July 7th, 2008 by Vgal
Perhaps you have heard of the “miracle fruit” that have created stories amongst multitudes of people. Its name is derived from the apparent miracle that happens with your taste buds for a while after you have eaten them, normally about an hour. You may be amazed to find that lemons now taste a sweet delicate and even a strong tasting beer can come across as a pleasantly sweet beverage! There have been attempts to commercialize it as an artificial sweetener, but none have succeeded. While it is perfectly legal to grow your own miracle fruit, or Synsepalum dulcificum, growing the plant is meticulous. Once the berries are picked, they don’t stay good for very long.
The miracle fruit calls West Africa home, although westerners have known about it since the 16th century. Linda Bartoshuk from the University of Floriday says that the effects of the fruit come from a protein called miraculin. It attaches to your taste buds and increases sweetness when acids interact with it. She also says she doesn’t know of any dangers in connection to the fruit.
The difficulty in obtaining the fruit is why places like the Miracle Fruit Express, where you can buy miracle fruit tabs, are becoming increasingly popular. This fun fruit can now go through an extraction process and made into tablets that have the same effects as if you had eaten the actual berries, and they are carefully sealed to be shipped to you in superb condition. Thankfully I found out about this website through a friend, and was finally able to give this unique product try. Heaven knows I sure don’t have a green enough thumb to grow the plant, so I thought this was the second best thing. It turns out that it isn’t second best; for me it’s the best. It really made lemons taste like a sweet, delicious fruit! I continue to be able to enjoy the effects of the fruit, and even shock friends and family with it - all without ever going through the nuisances of patiently cultivating the sensitive plant that that miracle fruit comes from!
NY Times story
June 24th, 2008 by Vgal
“Jacob the Jeweler”, as he is referred to in the hip hop world has learned that he will be spending the next 30 months behind bars, reporting to prison on Jan 15th. His real name is Jacob Arabov, and he’s a Russian immigrant that had become a prominent businessman with his Manhattan jewelry store. He became quite popular when he and Kanye West rolled out a new line of jewelry, and he also made Lil’ Kim’s watches. Arabov was also known as “The King of Bling”.
Lying to law officials is he got on the road to imprisonment. In 2006 he was arrested because authorities thought that he was in a conspiracy to launder almost 300 million buck in drug money. A plea bargain was able to get him out of the deepest water, even though he was thought to be working to launder the drug money for the “Black Mafia Family” which was a ring that was born in the early 1990’s in the heart of Detroit.
Now he faces 2 ½ years in prison, a $50,000 fine, and a $2 million forfeiture payment to the government. 41 others were also indicted in addition to the infamous “Jacob the Jeweler”.
More information can be found here.
June 23rd, 2008 by Vgal
Bad weather and mother nature overall seems to be taking out frustration around the world this year. California is known, of late, to be a haven for dangerous, life threatening, expensive wild fires. This year it doesn’t seem to be slowing down one little bit. In fact, it’s trucking toward being a year to mark down in the history books for those dealing with the northern California fires. Like the fires aren’t enough, now they had to deal with a little extra kick from lightning!Over the past weekend, more than 700 fires were sparked by lightning that have eaten up at least 700 acres across the northern part of the state. As normal this year nationwide, weather that is not typical struck the state and created even more dangers to the state. Firefighters were already a bit weary after fighting extensive fires the previous week that affected many homes and families.
Of course, the extremely low rainfall has led to dry, desperate conditions that continue to threaten the area. The northern California fires are not the only odd weather instances happening, though. Whether you believe it is all by chance, due to global warming, or just another cycle we are going through – you have to agree that SOMEthing weird is going on.
June 20th, 2008 by Vgal
Think ants are just measley little bugs? Think again. This is amazing footage of ants actually solving a problem and working together.
June 20th, 2008 by Vgal
Teen pregnancy is something with much cause for concern. Of course, most of us already realize that, but news of a group of high school girls who made a pregnancy pact over the school year is crazy. Apparently, 17 girls at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts are kicking off summer in a fashion that is sure to spark plenty of controversy; they are all pregnant. The school says this is four times as many pregnancies that they normally have during the course of a school year.
The high school is super supportive of teen parents, they even have a daycare on the premises so they can bring their little ones to school with them. However, the school nurse was becoming so worried about the number of pregnancy tests requested that she contemplated giving the kids contraceptives without the permission of their parents. Would this have helped? Probably not, considering at least half of the 17 girls who became pregnant this year say it was on purpose, and part of a pact they made to have babies. They reportedly made the pact to have children so they would have someone who would love them eternally.
What’s wrong with this picture? Is anyone to blame? Should the boys face any charges?
June 19th, 2008 by Vgal
Woman sues Victoria’s Secret claiming that she was injured by decorative piece that flew off her v-string.
June 19th, 2008 by Vgal
You may not know it, but today is a very important anniversary of a historical landmark in time. Today is Juneteenth. If you live in Texas, you probably know what today stands for as the event that happened took place in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. On this day, Major Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army showed up in Galveston and completely changed the lives of many. He arrived with the news that all slaves are free. The day has become known as Juneteenth, an abbreviated version of “June 19th”.
One moment, and about 250,000 slaves that were owned in Texas were suddenly free people. Although this event actually was in Texas, more than half of the United States has officially recognized the day either with making it a holiday or at least a special day that is observed. The civil war had been over for more than two months, and slaves were actually freed with the Emancipation Proclamation that had taken effect on Jan, 1, 1863. However, it was Major Gen. Gordon Granger that brought that freedom to life.
If you would like to take part in celebrations, you can probably find something in your area. Click here for information about festivities across the country.
June 18th, 2008 by Vgal
2-year-old boy left in Wal-Mart with only a few essentials and a note from his Mother. Do you recognize him?
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